‘Flash crash’ trader fails in bid to delay extradition

Navinder Sarao: his lawyers said that he had Asperger’s syndromeFacundo Arrizabalaga/EPA

The Hounslow-based trader who stands accused of helping to wipe hundreds of billions off the value of US shares five years ago has had his attempt to delay an extradition hearing to face charges in an American court rejected.

Lawyers for Navinder Sarao, 36, asked a judge at Westminster magistrates’ court yesterday to delay an extradition hearing set for late next month to allow an expert witness more time to prepare a report for his defence.

However, District Judge Quentin Purdy denied the application and said that the two-day hearing would not be delayed from starting on September 25, ruling that the expert evidence was not relevant to any decision to send Mr Sarao to the United States, where he could face a jail sentence…